Reading Strategies for Before, During, and After

ReadingNon-fiction strategies for middle school students

“Before” Reading Strategies

These strategies help readers activate prior knowledge, prepare for the reading, and become focused.o Preview the text/pictures in the book.o Determine the purpose for reading.o Activate prior knowledge.o Make predictions about the text.

Preview the text and pictures

It is helpful to look over the book/text before beginning to read.

Skim through the text looking at pictures, chapter titles, bold words, etc.

This gives the reader an idea on what the reading is about.

Determine the purpose

Knowing the purpose for reading helps the reader focus on the important things in the text.

Before you begin to read ask yourself, Why am I reading this text?o For a specific reason

• For example, learning about the 16th presidento Just for funo Educational purpose

Activate Prior Knowledge

Determine what you already know about the reading.o How can you build on this knowledge?o What else would you like you know about this topic?

Creating a KWL chart is a great way to activate prior knowledge.

Make predictions about the text

The reader can make predictions before and during reading.

Making predictions while reading helps the reader stay focused.

Questions to ask while reading:o What do you think will happen next?o Why do you think that will happen?o Was the prediction you made correct?o How do you know your prediction was

correct or incorrect?

“During” Reading Strategies

Make connections with the text. Visualize mental images about the text. Use think aloud strategies to monitor

comprehension. Identify the authors purpose. Make inferences to fill in gaps and draw

conclusions.

Connect

Visualize

Identify

Make connections with the text

Readers should make connections with the text using their background knowledge.

Different connections that can be made:o Text-to-Self: Connections between text and the

readers personal experience.o Text-to-Text: Connections between the text and

one’s previously read. o Text-to-World: Connections made between the

text and something that happens in the world.

Visualize mental images about the text As you read you should create mental images to

match the text you read. o For example, if the author describes a hot sunny day

at the beach an imagine of the beach should appear in your head.

Visualizations helps readers engage with text and make it personal and memorable.

Use think aloud strategies

Think aloud strategies can be helpful tools to help readers monitor there own thinking and comprehension of the text.

It slows down the reading process so the reader can monitor there understanding of the text.

Readers can stop periodically while reading to ask themselves questions such as; o Do I understand what I just read?o What new information did I just learn?o What were the most important points?

Identify the authors purpose

Determine the author’s purpose of the text.o Why did the author write the text?o What is the main idea of the text?o Who are the main characters?o What are the important details?

In order to understand the text it is important to understand the author’s purpose.o Was it to teach the reader something?o Entertain the reader?

Make Inferences

Reader should make inferences has they read.o Use context clues and prior knowledge to fill in gaps

and draw conclusions. Sometimes the text does not clearly identify or

say something but readers can make inferences to acquire a better understanding.

“After” Reading Strategies

Evaluate what you read. Re-read the text. Summarize the text. Compare and contrast related readings. Answer questions about the reading.

Evaluate

Summarize

Compare

Evaluate what you read

It is important for readers to reflect upon and analyze the text after reading.

This encourages the reader to form opinions, make judgments, and develop ideas from reading.

Re-read the text

Sometimes readers miss key ideas in the text as they read.

It can be very helpful to re-read the text or scan over it.

This helps the reader answer any questions or clear up any misunderstanding of the text.

Summarize the text

Summarization is the restating of the main ideas of the text in as few words as possible.o Put the text into your own words.o Focus on the key ideas.

Compare and contrast related readings

It can be helpful for readers to compare and contrast the text to prior text.o How was it similar? o How was it different?o Did you like this text better than the previous one?

Answer questions about the reading

Answering questions about the text helps readers develop an even deeper understanding.

There are four types of comprehension questions.o Right there: The answer can be easily found in a

sentence that is in the text.o Author and you: The answer is not in the text. The

reader must combine previous knowledge and information in the text to determine the answer.

o Think and search: The answer is in the text but requires the reader to piece together different parts of the text to determine an answer.

o On my own: The answer is not in the text. The reader must use past experiences and knowledge to determine the answer.

References Counseling Center. (2013, September 9). 7 CRITICAL READING

STRATEGIES. Retrieved July 30, 2014, from http://www.salisbury.edu/counseling/new/7_critical_reading_strategies.html

Yardley, B. (2012, July 28). Reading Strategies. Reading Strategies. Retrieved July 30, 2014, from http://www.slideshare.net/libraryyard/reading-strategies-13782096

Rutkowski, K. (2014, April 5). Reading strategies flipchart. Reading strategies flipchart. Retrieved July 30, 2014, from http://www.slideshare.net/Krutkowski1611/reading-strategies-flipchart

Comprehension Strategies - Making connections, questioning, inferring, determining importance, and more. (n.d.). Comprehension Strategies. Retrieved July 30, 2014, from http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/literacy/comprehension_strategies.html